Sunday, 30 September 2012

Bastion - Mini Review

A beautiful console game comes to the iPad

The Calamity befell the world known as Caelondia, and only the Kid appears to have survived. Trying to piece the puzzle of what happened and how to fix it, the Kid travels the world as it rebuilds itself before his very eyes.

Bastion is an amazingly beautiful game, featuring rich, yet simple gameplay and a very intriguing storyline. But what perhaps sets this program apart from other Role-Playing Games, where you gain experience and improve your equipment over time, is the voice-over narration. The narrator, known as the Stranger, describes what happens to the protagonist - the Kid - as it happens, saying things like “kid takes a beating” if a fight’s not going your way, or “been meaning to put up some guard rails” if you fall down the chasm only to come back again, making the whole experience feel very personal.

The story can be finished relatively quickly, but you can return many times learning more about Caelondia and improving your skills each time. The game’s responsiveness to touch commands is excellent. If you’re used to the console version, you can bring up a virtual gamepad, but it’s definitely not necessary to enjoy the game on your iPad.

This review was taken from my IT page "Everything is Pixelated", published in the local paper, The Roundabout. You can download the full page, along with all other articles, here